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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27736558">masquerade</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FunAndWhimsy/pseuds/FunAndWhimsy'>FunAndWhimsy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - BDSM, Deception, F/M, False Identity</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 07:33:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,681</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27736558</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FunAndWhimsy/pseuds/FunAndWhimsy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>For Bernadetta and Ferdinand, party preparation isn't quite as simple as one might expect; the masks they wear in public may be so old and well-worn they fit nearly as well as their own skin, but they are still masks, and must be put carefully in place and never allowed to slip.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ferdinand von Aegir/Bernadetta von Varley</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Fernadetta Week</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>masquerade</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23020399">won't go down easy</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/dustofwarfare/pseuds/dustofwarfare">dustofwarfare</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This was initially going to be a longer piece, but it's been sitting for a while and I quiet like the little slice-of-life feel of it so decided to post it for Fernadetta Week.</p>
<p>Takes place in a D/s alternate universe where everyone has an intense biological urge to fulfill the role of either a dominant or submissive. The relationship is entirely consensual, and there is only brief vanilla sex in this piece, but if biological imperative stuff bothers you this is probably not for you.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Getting ready for a big event takes most of the day, but there is a methodical slowness to it that Bernadetta likes and Ferdinand responds well to. There was a point in her life where one of her many, many worst nightmares would have been morning-to-evening preparations for a state function she would then have to attend with no promise of escape from the crowds, but that was a long time ago. Now she finds a certain peace in the steps she and Ferdinand must take to ensure a good evening, and a certain wicked joy in the game they play on nearly everyone simply by going out in the world.</p>
<p>Ferdinand pours her tea and kneels on his cushion at her feet while she drinks it, perfectly behaved though she can see the tension in his shoulders and jaw even after their lengthy morning play meant to relax him. He rests his head on her knee and pushes against her hand when she drops it to pet his lovely hair, and Bernadetta indulges him while she eats her lunch. There is no punishment in their home for being needy, even when it's inconvenient, and on days like today he needs her even more than usual. Inch by inch he relaxes, lets his shoulders drop, lets his lips part on a soft sigh and stay that way, spreads his knees and sinks a little lower onto the cushion. Bernadetta has never really gotten off on the idea of bending powerful people to her will, but this, melting all the stress of the entire world away with the touch of her hand, that satisfies her somewhere deep in her gut in a way nothing else really does.</p>
<p>When Bernadetta finishes her lunch and tea she tugs on Ferdinand's hair just a little, just so he knows to raise his head, and turns her chair so he is kneeling between her legs instead of at her side. He stays patient and unmoving while she sweeps the thick waves of his hair into an orderly braid, then tugs pieces artfully loose to give the impression of a man simply too important to keep his hair perfect. The velvet ribbon she ties it with is the same rich black as his collar, shot through with gold threads that catch the light the way his buckle does. As with all his hair ribbons she has embroidered her monogram on one edge, not because he might ever forget who he belongs to but because every piece of her he can take with him settles him further.</p>
<p>"You're doing well," she says, and his lips turn up at the corners because he can't help himself for even the mildest praise. He butts his head against her hand in a silent thank you, and she brushes a few loose strands of hair behind his ear before motioning for him to stand up.</p>
<p>This is the part that takes the longest, but also the most important. Bernadetta lays lengths of rope on the table, watches Ferdinand's eyes drift over them and the slight tilt of his body as he leans ever so slightly in their direction; he is so good for her but so, so bad at keeping his longing in check when he doesn't need to. Bernadetta ignores it and begins her careful work, looping the purple rope in careful patterns first around his arms - with a light touch, in case he wishes to remove his jacket - and broad shoulders, then following the lines of muscle down to his tapered waist, around his hips. She shakes loose another hank of rope for the most important part, the silken cage she ties around his cock, loose enough he will be able to think of anything else all night but tightly enough he will feel it when he moves or if he stirs. She weaves one end up into the pattern crossing his abdominals and pulls the other between his legs to rest against the plug she picked out for him earlier before fastening it to the diamonds woven up his spine. Ferdinand is patient and still for her even when his breath catches, when she works and reworks the rope outlining his pectorals until they're highlighted to her satisfaction, when she pushes her thumb against the plug to ensure it's perfectly seated, and his eyes are a little glassy when she finishes double-checking that her knots are secure and nothing's too tight. With the rope cage she can't reward him with an orgasm, so she slips her underclothes off and sits back in her chair, allows him to kneel on his cushion again and thank her with his handsome face between her legs.</p>
<p>Ferdinand is relaxed for the rest of their afternoon, for all the more mundane parts of getting ready they would have to do anyway. Bernadetta gives him permission to speak as they begin to dress, so his voice won't creak or go rough at the beginning of the night, but he doesn't choose to exercise the privilege much. It's unfortunately necessary for him to be out of headspace at least until his speech is over, and freely talking will help with that but he likes to hold onto it as long as he can. He does mumble some of his speech to himself as he buttons his shirt, and Bernie looks up to smile at him only to see him reaching into his wardrobe for a cravat. </p>
<p>"No," she says, and he stops as immediately as if his hand had hit a wall. "Bare neck tonight."</p>
<p>Ferdinand frowns but it's a little thing, barely a quirk of his lips and obviously a reflex, so she doesn't press the issue. He leaves his expansive selection of neck wear alone and moves on to selecting a vest, something in a heavy brocade that will conceal the ropework underneath his shirt. Bernadetta nods and turns back to her own clothes, pulling out a few pieces to lay on the bed. Ferdinand's been good today and she'll let him pick if he wants to, though sometimes when he's in this fuzzy in-between headspace even a simple decision can frustrate him. </p>
<p>"What do you think?" Bernadetta asks, and almost laughs when Ferdinand points to the long, sheer one with barely a moment's thought. The others are the kind of short and tight she prefers, but Ferdinand has a taste for drama and loves her in sweeping skirts, high necklines, carefully placed solid panels to conceal the very minimum of her body from anyone's eyes but his own. If she isn't very careful how she moves tonight, she will reveal occasional glimpses of her lingerie, and Ferdinand's cock will attempt in vain to harden and instead pull his harness tight and remind him whose he is. Bernadetta raises his hand so she can kiss the back of it, then turns so he can dress her and fasten up the back nearly all the way to her hairline.</p>
<p>As soon as the last hook is fastened Bernadetta steps away and twirls because even though it makes the sort of bright-red blush she mostly left behind burn on her cheeks she loves the way his eyes narrow when he  sees her like this.</p>
<p>"You look radiant," he says, and she laughs the awkward, giggling laugh of her teenage self because if she's completely honest part of the reason she prefers silence from Ferdinand is because once he starts talking so sweetly to her she loses all her composure.</p>
<p>"You're not so bad yourself," she says, so he laughs, too, and it's not quite his usual either. He's most of the way out of headspace now, and anyone who knows him well will be able to see the thousand little signs that he's not entirely comfortable but when Bernadetta lets go of that she can see the Ferdinand most of the world sees, bold and confident and just barely on the right side of overbearing. He'll have them eating out of his hand by the end of the evening, and then they'll come back here and she'll have him eating out of hers. "Just one more thing."</p>
<p>Ferdinand sighs and sits on the bed, bowing his head a little to make it easier for her to reach around and unbuckle his collar. His shoulders sag a little as she pulls it away and bares his neck, but he'll recover quickly; he always does. Neither one of them likes this part but neither one of them has a lot of choice, at this point, locked into roles that used to make life easier. Bernadetta rests her hand on the back of his neck for the moment, a comforting weight, then steps away to leave him to collect himself while she gets her own collar from its box. It's a beautiful piece, bejeweled and elaborate like people expect to see on Ferdinand von Aegir's sub. It sparkles in the light and calls attention to Bernadetta in the only way she feels comfortable with - it pulls the eye to the collar only, and then to the man who owns it, and Bernadetta might just as well be a war horse with an impeccable pedigree. It's funny here, so far removed from her miserable youth, the comfort she finds in pretending to be the person her father wanted her to be because it allows her to hide the way she always wanted to from him. </p>
<p>Bernadetta locks it in place herself and when she turns back to Ferdinand he is standing, shoulders square, spine straight, every bit the standard to which all dominants should aspire. He's most beautiful to her on his knees with his head bowed or fully lost in headspace so his eyes almost sparkle with adoration, but there is something special about this version of him, too, so reminiscent of the boy she hated herself for wanting when she thought she couldn't have him. Bernadetta takes his arm, and bows her head, and with the illusion firmly in place allows Ferdinand to guide her to the door.</p>
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